Collaboration Between Coroners in Beaufort, Charleston Counties Earns 2024 Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Regional Cooperation Award

The South Carolina Association of Counties (SCAC) is pleased to announce Beaufort and Charleston counties have won the 2024 Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Regional Cooperation Award for their collaborative efforts on their “Strengthening Regional Coroner Capacity” project. The award was given during this year’s SCAC Fall Advocacy Meeting. 

Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal and Beaufort County Coroner David Ott came together to create a framework to address two major challenges for the coastal counties: inconsistent data standards and limited investigative resources. These challenges can delay death investigations and the issuance of death certificates, particularly in cases involving natural disasters, opioid overdoses and mass fatalities. 

This initiative, supported by grant funding, enhanced the capacity to manage mass fatalities and provide services to more than 630,000 residents.  

"We weren't doing this for an award. We were doing this because it was the right thing to do for our communities," said Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O'Neal. "If we aren't sharing the same type of data, then we aren't taking care of our public health system and our criminal justice system appropriately." 

The Regional Cooperation Award was established in 1998 to highlight the growing need for regional partnerships, strategies and solutions. Competition for this award is open to two or more political subdivisions – counties or county partnerships formed with city, town, district or regional government organizations – that worked together on a project. The award was renamed in 2005 for Barrett S. Lawrimore, who served as SCAC president in 2004. 

“Collaboration is one of the pillars of our Association, and the project submitted by the Beaufort County and Charleston County coroners is a prime example of inter-county cooperation and collaboration,” said SCAC President William Robinson. “By working together to share resources and create a standard to ensure accurate data is being collected and distributed, these counties are easing the burden of those who are experiencing one of the worst events of their lives, the loss of a loved one.” 

SCAC received five entries for this year’s Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Regional Cooperation Award involving seven counties throughout the state. Honorable mention for this year’s award goes to the “Coastal Area Cooperation Regional Partnership” project, which was a combined effort of Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston and Horry counties. 

Summaries of this year’s award entries can be found here.